Sunday, April 03, 2005

Vatican officials used SMS to announce Pope’s death

World’s media was alerted by the officials from Vatican about Pope’s death in a few minutes due to modern communication technology. 15 minutes after the Pope was pronounced dead, the Vatican sent journalists an SMS message alerting them to a pending statement. "The Holy father died this evening at 21:37 in his private apartment," it read. During John Paul's life and after his death, the Vatican was at pains to accommodate the mass media, which closely followed the 84-year-old Pope's decline and spells in hospital. The Pope himself wrote in a February letter that the Church should not be shy of using the media, including the Internet, to spread its message, saying "mass media can and must promote justice and solidarity."